Arizona Bound

Watching this first of the Rough Rider series of B westerns for Monogram it occurred to me that someone in that studio thought it would be a good idea to team three veteran cowboys. No love interest for these guys. They're about business always.

Tim McCoy, Buck Jones, and Raymond Hatton all have careers dating back to the silent era. Hatton in fact was in some of the earliest films made in Hollywood. I'm sure the front row Saturday matinee kids liked them. But this was a trio that their parents might appreciate.

These three are all doing separate things but they answer a call from a US Marshal friends who says that in a certain Arizona town the gold miners are being systematically robbed when they ship with Luana Walters stagecoach line. All three drift in separately and pretend not to know each other. Do you doubt they get the job done?

This was a good beginning to the series.

Retired marshal Buck Roberts (Buck Jones) has left law enforcement and is enjoying life on his northern Arizona ranch when he receives a telegram from Marshal Bat Madison (Jay Wilsey) requesting his aid in stopping a rash of stagecoach robberies near villain invested Mesa City, and off he goes as a fast-paced Rough Riders (Jones, Tim McCoy, Raymond Hatton) adventure begins. Representing the forces of good against the forces of evil in this Monogram series, the three stalwarts have arrived separately and apparently unknown to each other into the plagued town, Roberts as a cattle buyer, Hatton as Sandy Hopkins, a cattle dealer, and McCoy as Parson McCall, an itinerant preacher, and quickly come up against Steve Taggart (Tristram Coffin), the ringleader of the bandit gang they seek. Roberts volunteers as a stage driver for the company owned by Ruth Masters (Luana Walters), but is framed with the responsibility for the holdups transferred to him and it falls to the other two Riders to rescue their jailed comrade, giving Jones, aboard his splendid steed Silver, an opportunity to display his riding and stunt ability in one of his final appearances before his untimely death in Boston's Cocoanut Grove fire the following year. Although this film does not receive strong direction, the cast and crew perform their duties very well indeed, with Slim Whitaker in his accustomed role as evil henchman, and the rugged Jones and hard-eyed McCoy as usual seem more than capable of handling any adverse situation which might present itself.

Buck, Tim and Ray kick off a great Rough Riders series. Seems as though Bunion (Horace Murphy) was right that Buck can't turn down a request from Bat Madison (Bob Baker). McCoy comes on strong with early comic relief as a preacher who forces the barflies to sing at gunpoint. Great to see Tristram Coffin famously known for his "dead man walking" incident on live television. Easy to see why Slim Whitaker was one of the most prolific actors as a B-western villains. Also, sweethearts on the set Luana Walters and Dennis Moore were very popular in these early westerns. A lot of action and throwing lead here, especially with the spectacular final scene.

My father (88), was a fan of Buck Jones and other Western Movie Stars back when he was a kid in the 1930's. He grew up with them. He was 10 in 1933 when "Gordon of Ghost City" was released. We are watching these serials and movies, and he will go...OK, now so-and-so person will fall off their horse and it will look like they are trampled...and it will happen. he remembers the pattern. Funny. I don't think he remembers the stories. But they remind him of the times he went to the movies as a kid. A few shorts, a cartoon, and two features for like a DIME!!!!!

These Rough Rider series of movies are pretty standard fair, but interesting, and fairly well made. There is plenty of action, and trouble. They all follow the same formula. 3, seemingly unrelated people come to town, and come at the problem from different angles. But of course they know each other, and are actually working together...they are...."THE ROUGH RIDERS"...US Marshals.

Good entertainment for kids, and grown ups alike, we are well entertained.

Watching many of the cheaply made 'B' westerns, I am use to an array of repeat stories that seem so cookie-cut that you can tell the ending only after a few minutes of watching. However, as I sat down to watch this film it became apparent that all 'B' movies are not created equal. This was actually an entertaining story with some fascinating characters.

The story was centered around three Marshals (Rough Riders) that went undercover to find the people responsible for a series of stage robberies in a small Arizona town. The three Marshals, Buck Jones, Tim McCoy and Ray Hatton arrive in the town at different times as to not arouse the suspicion of the locals with only Jones revealing that he use to be a Marshal but had since retired. And as the plot thickens, the townsfolk will soon learn that they are in the middle of a investigation that will not stop till justice is served.

This was an enjoyable start to the Rough Rider series. -- And sure some of the scenes were rough, as when the trio went through a hail of gunfire and never even got a scratch. Or when a villain was shooting at one of the Marshals and he just walked right towards the villain and never was struck- but it played out well on the screen. An enjoyable watch that has me looking for the next time the Rough Riders ride again. I giving this an solid 8 on the 'B' western index.